When President Obama received his Nobel Prize, he argued that he would regard nuclear proliferation as his primary challenge. This is hardly surprising since even as a Columbia College student he advocated a nuclear free world – a position consistent with the idealism of a student who knew very little about the ambitions of U.S. adversaries. Yet now after eight years in office, the president retains this same arms control illusion.

With a little more than a year left in President Obama’s second term, a panel at Williams College tonight will discuss how his presidency should be viewed. New York magazine contributing editor Annie Lowrey, Bowdoin College’s Andrew Rudalevige and Alvin Tillery Jr. of Northwestern University make up the panel. Williams College political science professor Justin Crowe will moderate the talk. Crowe spoke with WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Jim Levulis about President Obama’s time in office.

Much has already been written about the feckless foreign policy of the Obama administration or, in some instance, the president’s success in master minding a global American retreat from foreign affairs. As events are unfolding, it is clear the U.S. has voluntarily ceded its interest in the Middle East. In fact, I can anticipate the title of a book a decade from now that reads “Who Lost The Middle East?” similar to the host of books in the 1950’s entitled “Who Lost China?”

The Islamic State dealt a crushing blow to the Iraqi army in Iraq’s largest province (Ambar), including the city of Ramadi – once home to nearly half a million people. What this victory revealed is the fragility of the Iraqi army, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to train it.

You may have noticed that as he approaches his final two years in office, President Obama is trying harder to put his imprint on life in the US…and with his recent proposal on making two years college available to everyone, he has started a whole new conversation on the importance of school beyond grade 12.

Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear about the president’s plan for universal community college.

We’ll also open up the political science classroom and talk about the situation in France with a professor who specialized in European politics.

In a national address you can hear on WAMC tonight at 8, President Obama will outline executive action to reform the immigration system – a topic of intense debate but little movement among lawmakers in Washington.

Several people recently hopped the White House fence and were caught with weapons. Many treat Obama as if he can’t do anything right. Some insist they want him to lead while making it impossible to do that. From the beginning of Obama’s presidency, Republicans in Congress focused on bringing Obama down by blocking everything he did regardless of the merits. That’s unique in our recent history. He’s even been criticized for taking a vacation – though Obama has spent far less time on vacation than his predecessors – plural – and was obviously doing the job of governing even while taking some time with his family. What’s going on?

Since 9/11/01 the United States has been engaged in a struggle against radical Islam. The enemies have a variety of names from ISIS to al Qaeda, from Boko Harem to the Muslim Brotherhood, from Hamas to Hezbollah, but they are all active in the name of Islam and all have an imperial goal of creating a caliphate. Tactics may vary; yet they consistently maintain an extreme level of violence as a source of intimidation.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week voted to sue President Obama over his decision to delay the employer mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act. A New York congressman and his opponent offer differing views about the importance of the matter.

Congressman Chris Gibson was one of 225 Republicans who voted in favor of the lawsuit.

“And look, regardless of what party one’s in, this is in the best interest for our country,” says Gibson.

President Obama came to Massachusetts Wednesday afternoon to speak to the senior class at Worcester Technical High School, which at one time was among the most troubled in the state, but over the past few years was transformed into one of the best after focusing on science, technology, engineering and math. The president said the graduates are an example for their fellow students.

President Obama delivered the graduation speech at West Point Wednesday, and with it, a foreign policy change of direction. Now, two Congressmen from the Hudson Valley from different sides of the aisle are weighing in.

President Obama’s speech outlined a shift to more collaboration and less combat on the international stage. He says the U.S. must lead on this stage, and the military is the backbone of this leadership.

“But U.S. military action cannot be the only, or even primary, component of our leadership in every instance,” President Obama said.

President Barack Obama today delivered the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He took the opportunity not only to bestow words of wisdom, but to lay out his foreign policy vision. WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne was at the president’s third visit to New York in as many weeks.

1,064 cadets received diplomas after listening to President Obama deliver the graduation speech.

“You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan,” President Obama said.

President Obama paid a visit to Cooperstown Thursday. In a speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the nation’s most prominent White Sox fan focused on the importance of the travel and tourism economy.

The Village of Cooperstown and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are preparing for the arrival of President Barack Obama tomorrow. The president is scheduled to speak about the tourism economy, just before the start of Memorial Day Weekend.

Jeff Katz, mayor of Cooperstown, says the village is eagerly awaiting the arrival of President Barack Obama on Thursday.

“It’s very exciting. All the residents, all the businesses I’ve spoke to are pinching themselves asking if it’s really true,” said Katz.

The White House has announced that President Barack Obama will be speaking in New York state for a third time this month. On Thursday, May 22nd, the president will be visiting the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown to promote tourism.

According to the Oneonta Daily Star the Hall of Fame has been experiencing a banner year in visits.

President Barack Obama stood on the banks of the Hudson River Wednesday, with the Tappan Zee Bridge as a backdrop. He was in Tarrytown to push a $302 billion transportation plan, and shine a light on a replacement bridge project already under way.

President Obama was in Westchester County Wednesday, with the Tappan Zee Bridge behind him. He was there to call for investment in infrastructure and announce a plan to put a number of projects on a faster track.

President Obama is scheduled to speak in the lower Hudson Valley Wednesday afternoon, in Westchester County. With the Tappan Zee Bridge as a backdrop, he is expected to highlight the need for investment in infrastructure.

The president will deliver his speech in Tarrytown. Congresswoman Nita Lowey, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, expects Obama will reference the$1.6 billion low-interest loan U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx approved toward the end of last year for construction of the replacement bridge.

Critics have suggested that President Obama’s foreign policy is “feckless.” Some have argued the president is insouciant, a relative innocent, incapable of responding to the challenges that confront him. I see it somewhat differently.

There was a time not so long ago when I could select my own doctor. There was a time when I could choose my health insurance company. There was a time when everyone believed Marxism was a failure, an idea relegated to the ash heap of history. There was a time when class warfare occurred in other places far away, but Americans believed in opportunity, not sponging from others.